


Sacrifice of Pawns

by carmenta



Category: Vampire Chronicles - Rice
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-01-01
Updated: 1999-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-08 02:31:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/71774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carmenta/pseuds/carmenta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over a game of chess, Santino and Allesandra discuss what to do with the fledgling of Marius.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sacrifice of Pawns

Figures moving around the fire, circling the flames in fanatic dancing as if their life depended on it. The smell of burnt flesh still covered everything, nauseating and suffocating. How many had they been? Ten? Maybe twelve? It didn't really matter, there was no difference in their number, had it been one single boy they killed, it would have been the same. Meaningless, only a distant reflection of the symbol that funeral pyres had once been. They once led the way to another world, were the gateway between life and what lay beyond. Not just a stack of wood, turning into a pile of ashes that were scattered by the wind.

The sound of the kettledrums could be heard clearly down in the catacombs, the frantic beating, the chanting, the cries. Did the dancers still understand the real meaning of the hymns? Doubtful. Those who had known, who had helped to create the mystery, the cult of darkness, were long gone. Some had died in the flames, had erected their own bonfires to perish in the cleaning flames, their own private purgatory. Others had simply left, disappeared into the night and never came back. Nobody knew what had happened to them. Nobody cared. They were names without faces, what use lay in knowing their fate?

The world was changing rapidly, the past held no more meaning. New discoveries were made, new continents were found. The earth was no longer the disk the people had believed it to be, no, it was a sphere and revolved around the sun. The planet wasn't the center of the universe anymore, the old beliefs were being shattered to shreds with a speed that made everybody tremble.

Not even one of the oldest constants of the life in the Eternal City could be sure about its purposes and rules. The Children of Darkness were a part of Rome, they existed at the fringe of human society, preyed upon its outcasts and mocked its religion. But now a new era had begun. The new pope rivaled their doings, he committed crimes that made even the coven shudder when they heard of it, a ruthless killer who sold the red hats and poisoned the cardinals a week later; his son a murderer, guilty of more deaths than a vampire could ever be in such a short period; his daughter the whore Rome was afraid of.

But still there were things that never changed, that would be the same every night, even if the world changed its shape during the day. The meeting in the evening, the messages that arrived from other covens. Little colloquiums, the feeding. And the nightly fight on the battlefield of kings between the coven master and his advisor.

***

Alessandra set the chessboard, carefully taking the beautifully carved pieces out of the velvet bag. Turning each in her white fingers, she first finished setting the black and then the white figures, placing each exactly in the middle of its little square. From outside she could hear the sound of the others celebrating their sabbat, which didn't interest her, and singing their hymns which held no meaning to her anymore. She had seen more years than most vampires she had heard of, and had long ago realized that chanting and dancing was not what life in a group was about. Covens were created for power, not as an insult to God. And so she had taken advantage of the chance that presented itself to her in joining the Children of Darkness.

Sometimes she wondered how anybody could possibly be foolish enough to believe in what the Masters preached; for her neither God nor Satan existed. She served nobody except herself, and those who ranked higher than her, the basic concept of every society. Nevertheless the young ones, the dirty figures in their ragged robes, clung to the legends of evil beings whose purpose it was to mock the human world and its cruel God. For her they were weak, stupid, unable to think, to realize what was so clear.

"How can they not see that there are no such places as Heaven and Hell?" she murmured, a question she asked herself very often, and had never been able to answer.

"Because they don't want to see it," came the answer. "They cling to their beliefs because they are afraid of what might happen if there were no such things." Alessandra turned her head to the door, seeing the familiar figure leaning against the stone wall of her cell.

"Your shielding has improved, my friend. A month ago you would not have been able to enter my room without me knowing." It startled her that he had managed to keep his thoughts locked to her. "Welcome back Santino. I missed you." He rose his brows.

"Did you really miss me, or are you only trying to be polite? I thought you liked to be in charge of the coven." Alessandra ignored the comment, why should she answer when he already knew what she would say? Of course she had enjoyed being the leader for once, well aware of the fact that she could never be officially holding the power. The Children of Darkness mirrored the world of mortals, which was firmly in the hands of men. In today's human society it was unheard of that women were allowed to control groups, and so there was not one female coven leader Alessandra knew of. There had been a few, but they had disappeared centuries ago, making place for their successors who quickly returned to the patriarchal system they were used to. Even so there were opportunities for her to have her orders executed, and she used them whenever possible. During the years Alessandra had managed to work her way up to the role of an advisor to the leader, thus being able to influence him. There had been times when everyone had been scared of her abilities to make the master do whatever she wanted; she had been known as the secret queen. As time passed she gained more and more power, and it was inevitable for anybody to ignore her advises without risking his position or even his life.

Santino knew this very well, and he therefore treated her with respect and sought her opinions before he decided anything. Nevertheless she found it hard to make him do what she wanted if she couldn't give reasons why her way was the best. He saw her as a trustworthy consultant, nothing more, and she was sometimes surprised to notice that she was content with this position. They both knew each other's abilities exactly, making power struggles useless. Working together they could accomplish a lot more, and they seized the opportunity.

"Will you take black or white?" Alessandra asked, pointing at the chessboard. They played one game every night, discussing the latest events and trying to find solutions to the occurring problems.

"White," he answered, sitting down on the chair opposite to her. Santino always chose white, he preferred to make the first move. Alessandra was of the opinion that there was no better way to learn about somebody's character than playing chess with him. The way the adversary attacked, how he laid traps, everything told a little bit of his way to think. The color gave the basic indications; she had found that those who favored white were ready to take risks when necessary, while those who chose black used to wait for a mistake in the other's moves and then use it to their advantage. Usually she thought that the black players were the wiser ones, but then again it was sometimes necessary to be prepared to lose everything in an attempt to win. For her this was too uncertain, it was the principle of all or nothing. Santino on the other hand lived according to this motto. Maybe it would ruin him one day, but he was apparently ready to take the risk.

Moving a pawn, Santino made the opening, and Alessandra quickly responded. He watched the chessboard intensely, apparently considering every possible move and finally choosing to move a knight.

"Alfredo is not content with your decisions at the moment," Alessandra remarked, turning one of her bishops in her fingers.

"I know, he never is." Santino hesitated for a moment. "He won't last for long, he is too impatient."

"So you will expel him?"

"No, that won't be necessary. The others object to him being in the coven; they can't ignore that he's not a Christian. I can't and don't want to keep them from solving the matter themselves." Alessandra moved another pawn.

"Burning heretics is nothing to them. They don't see the line between a true pagan and somebody who has turned his back at God. How can they take a decision if they don't even know the difference between unknowing and guilty?"

"You always see everything so drastic. For them everybody who doesn't worship the same idols in the way they do is a potential enemy, and they can only feel mighty and safe if they attack a rouge now and then. Your turn."

"Did they kill the ancient one this time?" Santino laughed.

"How strong do you think they are? They managed to set him afire, and then thought he would burn to ashes. Nobody took care to check if he had really disappeared, they didn't notice that he fell from the roof and disappeared in the water." Alessandra had expected something like this, it was the usual result of an attack against old vampires. Their strength was impossible to estimate, it was rare that one really died in a fight against vampires as inexperienced as those of the coven. Nevertheless the hunts continued; the young simply needed the feeling of success when the ancient fled them to be undisturbed.

"I see. So nothing was gained through this."

"No, only some bruises and two dead vampires who thought it would be wise to attack one so old and powerful with bare hands." She had left one of her rooks unprotected, and Santino took it with his queen. "But they brought his fledgling with them." Alessandra looked up in surprise, it was unusual that they hadn't burned him on the spot. A vampire created by one so old was against the rules, and even she approved of this. Such young ones couldn't control their power, it was better to let it come with age.

"Why wasn't he thrown into the bonfire?" Alessandra asked, desperately searching for a way to prevent a massacre in her pieces. Looking at Santino, she saw an uncertain expression on his face, and decided to press further. "He is a heretic to the coven, why did they not kill him? Why bring him here in the first place?" Again Santino said nothing, looked at the chessboard. "Do you really expect him to be accepted into the group?"

"He has already taken the vows." Alessandra stared at her opposite, not sure if she wanted to believe what she had just heard.

"You allowed this to happen? Don't you see that he's a potential danger, a source of revolution? The others will think that you lost your reason! How can you do something that foolish? He should have burned, not welcomed with open arms. If we need fledglings, we can create them ourselves, there's no necessity to steal them from pagans."

"But didn't you say yourself that there is a difference between guilty and unknowing? That young one is merely six months old, there is no reason to damn him for what his maker is. Besides, he is the fledgling of one of the oldest vampires known, a symbol for our power if we convert him to the rules of the Children of Darkness."

"Santino, you have to realize that the others will object to this! They will not just watch as one who wasn't made according to the rules is accepted into the coven. There is already an opposition forming, no need to nourish their thoughts!" Santino broke through her defenses and took a black bishop.

"Try to look at this situation from some distance. I know that he's a danger, but then again it's one of the best ways to revive the old mysteries if we have a converted in our very midst, one that is more trustworthy than the most loyal members of the coven. If he really causes a rebellion, we can always send him away to some other coven." Alessandra shook her head, pulling loose strands of her dusty, dirty hair back into a braid.

"You don't want to see the danger, do you?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

"No, because there is nothing such as danger in this. Protect your pieces, or this game is going to be shorter than I expect of you."

Alessandra stared at the board, trying to find a way to keep him from taking her queen. Sighing she realized that she had to sacrifice a pawn to accomplish this. If she wanted to win this game, she had to attack, set a trap without getting caught in his. Their chess games were becoming harder and harder battles, they knew each other's strategies well enough to fight for hours, even days over a victory.

"I can't understand your reasoning in this," Alessandra said, not sure herself if she meant the game or the recent occurrences in the coven.

"To be honest, I'm not sure about it myself." Santino laid his index finger on the top of his rook, moving the piece in the direction of her pawn, but then he hesitated, drew back and took a black knight he had completely ignored until now. "It won't be difficult to make the others accept him. Some days in the purgatory of the cells, and they should see him as a chastened sinner. If he doesn't go insane, that is."

"The idea is interesting," Alessandra admitted, "but I don't see how the fledgling should be of use to us."

"Oh, there are many possibilities. Let's assume he turns out to be as I think he will, believing in the rules and in what we tell him. In this case he will be a trophy, won in a vicious battle; a warning to others who try to oppose us. If he is completely converted to our ways, he will be a perfect missionary to be sent to the north to gather the vampires in covens. Those who have learned that it's best to live like we do are the most persuading when it comes to bring others to do the same." He waited patiently for her to make her move, no apparent change in his expression when she moved her remaining rook, trapping a white bishop.

"So you are determined to keep him here." Alessandra looked at Santino. "You know that I advise against it. Some of the older ones might turn against you for breaking the rules, and a part of the young will follow them."

"The problem you appear to have with your imaginary revolution is already taken care of." She rose her brows, inquiring what exactly he meant with this. "I have sent those elders to Vienna tonight, the coven there needs new leaders. And the others won't dare to rise against me if the ringleaders aren't here anymore to think for them. Take the brain away, and what remains is a helpless body, unable to control its limbs." A wise move, Alessandra had thought of this herself already, but had never really seen the need to execute her plans. Only a few of the coven actually used their minds for anything but memorizing hymns and prayers, and those always were the challengers to the black hood of the Master, who fought for the place as his successor and sometimes even caused his downfall. It was a dangerous way to come to power, only sometimes bringing the wanted result and more often death or expulsion.

"Trouble in Vienna?" she asked, taking the trapped bishop.

"A group of rouges has settled in the city, and the leader of the coven couldn't deal with them." Santino frowned as he looked at the board. "The situation got out of hands, and he called for help. Don't you remember the messenger who arrived last month?" Alessandra nodded; she knew who he was talking about. A young vampire who had made the journey from the Danube to the Tiber in less than a week, rather fast considering that the streets were in a bad condition at this time of the year. How she had pitied him standing there in the middle of a group of strangers, in his muddy, torn clothes, his hair full of dirt from sleeping in the ground, asking, begging for help in the name of his Master. Facing the frightening figure of Santino in his black velvet robes, looking as if he would give the command to execute the arrival on the spot if he dared to do as much as breathe.

"I thought you would ignore the request."

"And not seize the opportunity to control Vienna through members of our coven?" Shaking his head, Santino smiled. "I really expected you to know me better than suggest such a thing. The north is in a crisis at the moment, several groups have lost their leaders during the last year. A time of change, of subversion. An ideal moment for us to become the most important vampire city of Europe."

"There is not much use in telling you that you might lose everything in this attempt, I assume," Alessandra said, watching with satisfaction as a white knight was caught in her carefully set trap. "It might be better to wait for the reactions of the covens in Spain and France. You must not underestimate Seville, they outnumber us by far, and their leader is competent."

"You are playing better than usual tonight," Santino took the bishop she had forgotten to protect, making her ambush useless, "but your strategy lacks inventiveness. How often have I seen you try this before; I'm not completely learning disabled, you know. The Spaniards won't be interested in what happens north of the Pyrenees, the power struggles between Granada and Seville are more important to them at the moment. As long as they have no peace on their own peninsula, they won't think of expanding their influence." Alessandra nodded.

"I see. And it's the same situation in France," she said, trying to envision the outline of the country, the places where covens existed. Most of the smaller ones were having feuds with each other, which took all their energy, interest and time. There were only a few larger groups that could present a problem, Toulouse and La Rochelle in the south, and Paris further north. She had been to the capital once; to the catacombs that were new compared to the Roman ones built when the Caesars still hunted the Christians; lacking the feeling of age and mystery, merely artificial caves and subterranean branches of the Sequana, or Seine as the river was called now. The coven reflected its surroundings; they had no real traditions, no true identity. In Rome the Children of Darkness lived underneath the holy buildings of the Christians, haunted the streets around the churches and the Castel Sant'Angelo itself while the Parisians cowered in the shadows of cemeteries, not daring to leave their sacred graves alone and unprotected for more than a few moments. They were primitive beings, rude and hardly knowing anything of proper vampire behavior, barbarians to the Romans as the people of Gaul had been at the time of the great Empire, foolish, awkward, uncultured compared to the dark saints of the Eternal City.

"So you understand why I am trying to have those loyal to me, or those frightened, in positions where I can control their coven." Santino stared at the chessboard, considering his next move. "The cities of Eastern Europe have already accepted Rome as the capital, as have some in the North. They won't dare to do anything without our approval, and I am planning to send some of us as messengers to them to have the groups completely in my hands."

"When did you become so interested in power?" Alessandra asked, smiling with satisfaction as she saw a possibility to get behind Santino's defenses and endanger his king. Maybe he learned about details of her strategy and improved his own, but there were some characteristic mistakes he always made.

"How can I be a coven master without wanting the authority that lays in this position? Nobody would take the difficulties just to wear the black hood because the velvet feels so soft. I am merely a little more ambitious than most of the others, I don't see why I should restrict myself to ruling only one city."

"Rome has always dominated Italy; Florence and Naples follow our example and our commands," Alessandra countered.

"Yes, but why not look further north? Vienna, Prague, these mighty cities are nearly ignored by vampires, the local covens don't dare to take human victims anymore because they fear the discovery. These centers of power are being slowly abandoned by our kind."

"Perhaps the mortals there suspect their existence and fight them. Check." Santino rose his brows in surprise, he hadn't noticed her careful approach.

"The inhabitants of Rome know very well who preys upon them; the old myths of the lamia are still existent. This may be the center of Christendom, but underneath the surface the people are as superstitious as they have always been since Romulus slaughtered his brother."

"Another reason for us to be careful and stay silent. If we gain authority, more vampires will come here, increasing the danger of being discovered."

"If this should happen, which I doubt, they will be sent away to form new covens somewhere else." Santino made a castling, moving the white king out of Alessandra's immediate reach. She felt a draught, perhaps the door to her cell had opened a fraction. From outside the sound of the kettledrums and the voices could still be heard, the sabbat would last until the sun forced them all back into their coffins.

"Have you ever thought of the possibility that there might be other leaders who plan the same?" she asked, frowning when she studied the board. Not possible to end this game in a few moves, she had lost the offensive position already.

"What do you mean?"

"An attempt to influence other covens could cause a war among our kind."

"Not very likely."

"According to the legends this has already happened when Those Who Must Be Kept were in the hands of a small group of vampires, hidden from the others who wanted to participate in their power." Santino smiled at her, shaking his head.

"Do you still believe in the old stories? Nobody has seen Those Who Must Be Kept, they are only a phrase, nothing more."

"But then what was the use of attacking the ancient one in Venice? He is the supposed keeper of them. Why did the coven go after him if it wasn't for the power, the knowledge of this old secret?" Alessandra felt bewildered, she had assumed that the old myth was the real reason behind the attack, not the fighting against a blasphemer. Why didn't Santino see the power that lay within Those Who Must Be Kept, regardless of what they were? Who possessed them held a position of authority, of might over all the other Children of Darkness, so how could he dismiss this so easily, without even considering it for a moment?

"Alessandra, why should I risk the life of half of the coven in a quest for something that probably doesn't exist anymore? Who knows what Those Who Must Be Kept are but ancient myths from Egypt, an attempt to explain what our race is? There is no practical use in discovering them." No use? No use? But why didn't he see how important they could be? She wanted to shout this out loud, try to make him understand the importance of knowing about the legends, of knowing that there always lay truth in them.

"Why can't you understand this? Those Who Must Be Kept are a source of power, nobody will dare to oppose you if you control them, whatever they are!"

"If you don't cover your queen, you will lose it. What you are talking about is only an old story, it's not very likely that there is any truth in it at all. Maybe you can't understand, but today the priority of vampires is not exploring their past anymore. It's the heretics that we fight, not a struggle for knowledge that serves no purpose." Another black pawn was taken, making it more difficult for Alessandra to cover her king. She sighed, moving a knight onto a vacant square to block the attack. "You are unusually passive tonight."

"Your strategy has changed, and I am not sure how to respond to this." In this seemingly hollow phrase lay more truth than she wanted to admit. Santino had changed, making it difficult, if not impossible for her to realize what he wanted to achieve; whenever she assumed his moves were without a real purpose, she found one of her pieces caught in careful traps, unable to save it. Black was disappearing from the board, was separated, cornered. Slowly wiped out on the battlefield.

"Well, you can't expect me to play according to the old ways forever. New times, new ways. The game would become boring if we don't vary the sequence of events sometimes."

"Change brings danger," she replied, taking his queen. "Check." Santino studied the board, then smiled at her, moving his king, hesitating, considering if the movement should be permanent. Alessandra waited for him to see that he had lost the game, that he could give up now as well as watch her tearing down his defenses, taking his pieces one by one. The white king was hidden behind a pawn now, safe for the moment, but she only had to move a few pieces into place to win the game.

"But it is also necessary sometimes to achieve a goal." He reached out, and a white rook suddenly appeared in front of Alessandra's king. "Checkmate." She scanned the board for a possibility to escape, to protect her king and endanger his again, but there were white pieces everywhere, preventing the rescue of the king, the game. She had lost, had been beaten. Defeated.


End file.
